#5toFit: Nutrition, Day 1. 

I’ve been aiming to follow the same diet for about most of my time in LA, since I was diagnosed with severe hypoglycemia (I have diabetes in my family) almost a decade ago.  I started having low blood sugar attacks when I first moved to LA and was an assistant at WMA -where I was surviving on sugar coffees, teriyaki rice bowls and pretzels (carb overload with long periods between food throwing my insulin into overdrive).  I finally saw a nutritionist (the late, famed ‘food nazi’ Hermien Lee) who put me on strict, balanced diet that saw me eating every few hours and getting rid of sugar, salt and preservatives.  For those of you who know me as a ‘ziplock queen’ carrying broccoli and almonds around with me, it’s because of Hermien. She was also instrumental in me understanding that looking your best comes from strict but healthy nutrition and that it also can be really hard work; there are no quick fixes to losing weight and looking your best, especially if you weren’t born with the genes of a super model (and despite what the magazines tell you.)

Being an athlete, I like to see the body as an engine, so my goal this week is to get it working as efficiently as possible.  My diet is as follows:

1. Little meals every few hours to maintain metabolism even if calories are reduced.

2. A diet heavy on lean protein (chicken, fish) and vegetables and some essential oils.

3. No alcohol. (I love wine so this is hard for me)

4. Low salt (seriously- it makes a huge difference).

5. No sugar, flour, pasta, crackers, cereal, cheese, ice cream, candy, etc.

6. 2 exceptions to that rule: A piece of dark chocolate (if I’m really craving sugar) and agave in my coffee.

7.  Lots of water, especially with lemon.

8. Lemon on everything- use as a substitute for dressing.

9.  Eat dinner at least 3 hours before I go to bed.

10. If I start getting b*tchy I’ll add some rice / quinoa to my lunch. :)

This diet has worked for me EVERYTIME I have stuck to it.  But you have to PREPARE for it. I spent my lunch hour chopping up veggies to put in tupperware containers and will be grilling up a big batch of chicken tomorrow. And you have to eat more often than you think, or that sandwich/ burger/ taco will look really tempting as will that box of wheat thins.  Tonight I had steamed spinach, a piece of salmon with sliced tomatoes on top with a lemon garlic marinade. Yes, I made it. No, it wasn’t as good as it sounded, as I overcooked both the spinach and the salmon.  But Hermien would be proud.

Hope this inspires you to treat your body well! Keep the comments/ tweets coming too, I’ll try to respond to them all.

T